Natural selection: Practice Questions

• a.

  The bacteria learned to avoid the areas where the antibiotic concentration was highest

• b.

  They already possessed a genetic mutation providing resistance, which they passed to their offspring

• c.

  The antibiotic caused the bacteria to mutate their genes to become resistant

• d.

  They developed a resistance specifically because they were exposed to the drug

• a.

  The two populations stop breeding to prevent the mixing of genes, which causes an immediate change in species type.

• b.

  Mutations occur at a fixed rate in both populations, causing them to eventually become identical through genetic engineering.

• c.

  Genetic variation exists in both populations; different alleles are selected in different environments until interbreeding is no longer possible.

• d.

  The animals acquire new characteristics during their lifetime to survive, and these changes are passed to their offspring.

• a.

  They are acquired during the organism's lifetime and then transferred to the offspring.

• b.

  They cause the individual to mutate rapidly to ensure it becomes a new species within one generation.

• c.

  They are passed on to the next generation because the individual is more likely to survive and breed successfully.

• d.

  They remain dormant until the environment changes, at which point they become dominant alleles.

• a.

  A person who loses a limb in an accident does not have children who are missing that limb

• b.

  Certain strains of bacteria can evolve resistance to antibiotics over many generations

• c.

  Polar bears have thick layers of fat and fur to survive in cold arctic environments

• d.

  Giraffes with slightly longer necks are more likely to survive during a severe drought

• a.

  Genetic engineering \(\rightarrow\) therapeutic cloning \(\rightarrow\) environmental variation \(\rightarrow\) creation of clones.

• b.

  Geographical isolation \(\rightarrow\) uniform selection pressures \(\rightarrow\) reduction in genetic variety \(\rightarrow\) speciation.

• c.

  Geographical isolation \(\rightarrow\) genetic variation in each population \(\rightarrow\) natural selection of different alleles \(\rightarrow\) inability to interbreed.

• d.

  Environmental change \(\rightarrow\) inheritance of acquired characteristics \(\rightarrow\) geographical isolation \(\rightarrow\) rapid mutation.

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.